Optimum amount of carbon semi-coated on titania nanorods-Pt (Pt/CCT) electrocatalyst increases the cell performance and long term durability in low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (LT-PEFC). Semi-coated carbon on titania nanorods support (CCT) is synthesised hydrothermally followed by Pt deposited using polyol method. A thin metal loading of 150 mu g cm(-2) with an active area of 50 cm(2) exhibits a high current of 49 +/- 0.5 A at 0.6 V for 100 h without back pressure in H-2:O-2 configuration. In the present study, 5 and 15 cell LT-PEFC stacks and their engineering aspects towards development of indigenous cell fixture and assembly are explored in detail. The 5 cell stack durability at 5 A for 125 h shows a minimal voltage loss of 4 mu V h(-1). In addition, 15 cell air cooled prototype indigenous fuel cell fixture is fabricated and demonstrated with electrical power of 310 W at 9 V. In a single cell, Pt/CCT retains 85% of initial current at 0.6 V during start-stop cycles (100 h) in H-2:air configuration as compared to Pt/C. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.